national day

Yes, we love YOG.

We love the hype. We love giving way to special people on our very large lanes on roads. We love that we can get to donate $130 if we wrongly are under the impression that our work is more important and that we should rush to work after sending our children to schools.

We love that Singapore is living up to its eco-friendliness and chopping down trees.

We love that locals (some loosely defined term) are saved from jobs that are pushed to foreign workers because locals are saved from working terribly long hours, being underpaid or cheated, and are treated like garbage.

Phew!

Thank god for low-skilled, cheap labour. Thank you, fellow countries!

We are so thankful that our doors are wide open to members of the Earth, or this otherwise sparse and deserted nation would become extinct.

Happy National Day, Singapore!!!

familia,family.

so randomly, there was a conversation about family (in general) and the person i was talking to was telling me how she always gets the “you don’t understand la, you don’t understand my family”. “my family different, lot of problems, no good”.

No good.

What is no good?

Anyhow, as an afterthought, so where is there a rule that two married people and kids constitute a family? some families are very complicated, messy, but that doesn’t make it a bad or a broken family. Being married and staying together with kids could still be more negative than positive, just that it outwardly impresses that it is a [thumbs up] family. merely by fitting into a particular design and structure does not define a good family.

so what does? I’m  not sure. But I sure know what doesn’t.

I truely believe that just because a family is ‘different’ from expectations and hopes, that does not make it less positive than a “complete, intact” family (whatever all these terms mean, and however you define it). And going back to “no good” – there is no rule that the more complicated a family structure is, the less “good” it is. And vice-versa. Its rubbish to assume that the seemingly less complicated families are all doing well and happy and are perfect. There are tons of people who have a married life and don’t cheat on their spouses and have bastard kids but still have a terrible married life. And their children are still unhappy.

As much as reality bites, we can’t choose most of our family, we can’t pretend we never had them, and we can’t deny that some people are just ‘luckier’ than others. But nobody really said life was fair. The one and only truth about life, besides the fact that its not forever, is that it isn’t a fair and happy process. However, there are things that we can choose.

Hmm. I don’t think this is the right time to quote “if you can’t beat them, join them”.

But despite my thoughts, which not necessarily are linked or flow; at least at this point in time, I will still be at a loss of words for someone who says:

“my family different, lot of problems, no good“.

Dear Singaporeans

A simple lesson:

nday

this year’s nday song.. sounds… christian.

wow amazing stuff nobody ever knew

sunday times – 14 june 2009, gilbert goh wrote in to say that we should “spend more time with your elderly parents“.

“my mum is now a shadow of her former vibrant self. Her hair is grey, and she hardly smiles. I believe the problem is that she feels bored and neglected as no one talks to her much. Most of us are too busy with work or our social lives to sit down and chat with her.” 

LIKE DUH?!

maii – naaah.

on sunday jan 18th we saved a bird! my idea.

going home after morning jogging. that day me bro and my friend ran a great distance of less than 1/4 a track. *clap clap* we’ve never been this tired (lazy) before.

then.. i saw it!

i saw the mynah.

it was at the, hmm, (my internal vocab list is deteroriating slowly…) curb of the road there. and it was white! *gasps* white mynah! it was covered totally in white paint! how terribel!

so its like at the end of the curb, a bit, it falls on the road, can get run over. luckily the road is not so .. there were very few cars. so after a long time of standing there, i decide to go home and ask the elders what to do.

i bumped into paati, she didn’t say anything too nice about saving the mynah. meannn. haha.

my mother was quite enthu! so we got a box and arul put holes in it and my mother brought newspaper (cos i told her that the mynah was freshly wet and even the grass it , er, walked/rolled/was on had become white already) and then.. it took quite a fair bit of time cos there was a commotion about whether to bring it to the vet or not and whether the vet would be open (sunday,cny eve) … etc, etc etc.

then my mother was trying to catch the silly bird which kept running (it couldnt fly however hard it tried) and then when she finally kept it and then i bent down so she could put it in the box i was carrying.. and VOILA! the bird fluttered and i got scared and let the bird fall out and continue running.

so poor mother had to catch it again. then we brought it home, my dad saw it, wanted to use turpentine or thinner or something, but we were afraid it would be KILLFUL to the bird. so.. my bro and i went to serangoon north. in the bus so scary. like the silly box. got all sorts of sounds coming from it. and.. we left it slightly open so its beak was like sticking out. only the beak so that there was enough air.

and then we saw a bird shop and i told the guy in the shop that we found a mynah covered with paint (he just like stared at us).. then i said, “so.. we need to go to a vet..” (pause) and he pointed across the street and said “vet.” i believe he really was terribly far from fluent in the english language. so as we were going to leave the shop, suddenly got a grp of tamil ppl with bird.

ok. with  bird-cages.

then one of them called out to me in tamil (as we were walking out) “eh girl, what bird is it!” then i started to attempt to talk to him in tamil but i very quickly switched to english and just told him whatever had happened.. oh and interestingly when he called me all the tamilehs had gone and it was just once decent looking guy who had called out to me and he was with a chinese guy. after that he wanted to see the bird, then when he opened the shoe box which my bro was holding, the bird hopped out, then there was a mini-bird chase, haha, then the guy caught the bird, then they looked at the paint and said it wasn’t the er, ah, paint that needed thinner, or turpentine.. so we can just wash it with water. imagine the horror on my face, i really did not want to bring it back to wash la! then he told the shop keeper he was going to their sink to wash the bird (so i assumed he was a regular, or something). but then i think he kinda knew we were two dud heads with no clues about birds so he went into the shop

so while he was washing the bird they talked to me and my bro, asked where we found it whether we intended to keep it etc etc.

then after they washed it, he told us to bring it home and let it dry. wah lau i was so stressed i was imagining how funny it would be to hold the bird and use a hair dryer. but he himself suggested putting the bird in one of the bird cages in the shop and getting the shop keeper to let it free when its wings are dry [if not it can't fly and then if mr cat comes along it will MEOWWW and pounce and tear it apart which isn't necessarily a bad thing but just not pleasent for bird lovers for some reason] then he and his friend said thanks to us and he said he was an ex-bird park show presenter so he’s experienced la.

okay the end. bye bye maiii-naah.

At Tiong Bahru Mrt Station. Happens Very Fast. My exciting and eventful ONE minute.

Rajes: *taps card* walks (she is halfway through)

Me: *taps card* walks. (halfway stops, because some Chinese Man has [hereafter CM] tapped at the other side and is trying to walk also!)

CM: EH! HELLO AH! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE WALKING HERE AH!! (i have passed the barriers already and he’s like a bit stuck)

Me: Er, N- ( i dont finish saying it)]

CM: (moves fwd) Aiyah!

Me: Er. . Actually.. You’re not supposed to tap here.

CM: *looks like he’s going to kill me* and walks back to look at the sign (you know, whether its a red cross or green tick) in the *i’m going to show you, young upstart*

(pause)

CM: (suddenly the tone all soft) Oh ya, sorry ah!

………..

Rajes: Maggie, I can’t believe you let him scold you! He was SO RUDE!

Me: Ya. . i thought he was a normal old man who was tapping on the wrong side.

Both of us: Stupid old man.

**

I seriously let silly people get the better of me. (remember the 7/11 woman….)

conversation, differences.

normal malay local undergrad VS ang-moh with (see-able) tattoo on shoulder, mohawk hair.

girl: hey wow, you just came back from india?
guy: yeah.
girl: how long?
guy: 3 mths. rockclimbing.
girl: wow! ur parents let for so long?
guy: gives the *er,what did u just say look?*
mutual ang-moh friend: singapore is very different!
girl: then school?
mutual ang-moh friend: he hasn’t gone for 3 mths.
guy: yeah.
girl: then who finances you!
guy: [gives the *er, what did you say look?*] i work?
girl: wow!
guy: i work, and i go rock-climbing and travelling.
girl: wow… i have to ask my father permission for …

(and the conversation kinda ends in a few minutes)

wouldn’t it be great to have that, eh.

our crazy diaspora

phone numbers, we don’t really bother about area and country codes
we live inside our little homes, sometimes too large to find ourselves
but then again whose at home its always i’m out
at the office, work, school, hospital, coffeeshops, town, or clubs
hi mom hey you’re asleep its okay when you wake up i’m at school
children grow up with abbrevations – SAM, CPF, ERP .. the list goes on.
mr cambodia came over the other day, amazed at the cleanliness
he asked my 10 year old what KK stands for on the sign,
got a shrug and a – “KK LOH”

once upon a time our grandparents were strange people
who the natives thought were… new. different.
the same thing happens now, with all these new China workers-
they’ll be the locals soon: still new and the same.
people live just to wake up the next day to go to work
either you need the bread or you have too much and it rots away
9-6, 8-5, 6 days, public holidays.

come buy flats at punggol, its small, tiny, far away from everywhere
if you’re lucky you’ll know how many kids your neighbours have
there’s a lot of fuss about repeal377a but if you’re smart
you’ll go to hotel 81 oh damn what if you’re a civil servant?

anyway whats the big deal about laws
domestic workers aren’t even in the employment laws,
our union is pitiful – what workers rights?
big shots flaunt their purchased phDs – think montessori
at least when you call 999 the ambulance comes on time if there isn’t a traffic jam (oh no but there WAS a jam so byebye Grandad it was nice knowing you)
after all you’re strange if you have manners on the road,
the usual winner is the cab driver – you know he’s a moron
if you see a cab with a black square on his window

whats a tsnuami? an earthquake? oh they’re foreigners …
they don’t affect us, we’re safe in sunny lil’ singapore!
we’re not? alamak, mampos! now how? all die la!
relax brudder, government sure got backup plan one.

bo chup. kway teow. rojak. kiasu, teh peng, nandri.
first night safari, largest flyer, great airport.
what do the five crescents stand for
earth fire wind water heart:
our crazy diaspora.

welcome to AngryPedestriansSG.Blogspot.Com

everytime i cycle i get angry and i want to kill all the stupid drivers. (and just for your info i seldom cycle) yesterday i wanted to take a stone and throw it at the grey honda. i wanted to SLAP THAT STUPID TAMILEH #(*&#(*$& who was sitting next to the driver in that family car. i have lost count but yesterday the honda adds up to yet another one of the many people who could have injured me. i don’t think i would have died.
oh yes. there is a story about how i almost died when i was walking home from the mrt station but i will leave it to another day. it is true that when u are indian and u are a dark indian and u wear dark color clothes u will camaflauge into singapore’s darkness and thus are partly responsible for dying on the roads.

ANYHOW. i am intending to set up a blog to address this.

IF i could i would take photos of these stupid cars. stupid-drivers-in-sg.blogspot.com? zebra-crossings-aren’t-safe.blogspot.com? kill-singaporean-drivers.blogspot.com? ARGH.

this only applies to cars being driven in heartland areas and especially at turnings and zebra crossings. if you get hit jaywalking i’m sorry you will be hurt and i will not be sympathetic. maybe a little bit only. maybe i will set up iwas-stupidandgot-hit.blogspot.com for you.

i was on the bed and dreaming of how, if it was possible for a normal person like me to trace the address where a particular car is registered, i would print out flyers and stick it all over his block his door with “HELLO SG*1234X* I ALMOST GOT HIT BY YOU AND YOU THOUGHT YOU ESCAPED I WILL HAUNT YOU.” or “Hi Mr SG*****X next time please open your eyes when you drive if not i will HOPE YOU DIE.” actually to be honest when i was lying down in bed they were actually nicer verses that i thought of. things that were actually plausible. as u can tell i have forgotten the nicer things that i thought of because .. because because.thats it.because.

but of course i cannot really do what i want to do. it is time to remember what i really wanted to write. i have to go and check all the laws and see how i can work around them to avoid being sued as much as possible. i have to do this. it is  enough. i believe i will be killed on the road and this is what i need to do before that fateful day.

doktor gigi

this is ancient news. but sometimes random things just pop by in my head. and i got angry thinking about it, so i decided to vent it on zuluhaha.

i suddenly remembered the maid who got her teeth pulled out by the children of the family whom she was serving.

and the very, very kind doctor who gave her free replacements, and i remember how sweet she looked in the photo in the straits times – click here..
and i remember the very meek punishment the children got.

i hate the over-niceness. i think she got only 26 mths jail because she was 17 at the time of offence. her brother got 6 weeks for caning her. i think she should have her teeth pulled out.

she had to to cover her mouth when she smiled. read HERE for more.

justification is easy, but its not needed. just punishment must be given to those who deserve it.
period.

stupid m.a.g.gi.e

so when you go visiting, it is just polite to get something. thats not the problem.

me being uber cheapskate, i ended up paying more than i wanted to.

it was some random 7/11 past 6th avenue centre. something of that sort. Bukit timah road. before mgs there.

silly, puny shop. almost nothing to choose from. i was deciding between just two decent looking chocolates (my goodness, they had no Merci’s chocolate la).. and i picked up one for $8.50. so then i saw ferraro roche for $7.15. okay, i don’t usually buy ferraro roche cos its kinda common but i thought.. alamak, i’m already off my budget for the month (what with taking cab to school and other random places out of necessity..) So i put back the $8.50 chocolate, took ferraro roche, paid the Tamileh Sales Girl (hereafter TSG) $10.00 and got back… ta da! $0.20.

I paused, took the change, and walked back to the chocolate place. I saw the price tag was $7.15. I go back to TSG. “Hi, sorry, excuse me (in a sooo not pushy voice) .. I was wondering why you charged me $9.80 when the price tag says $7.15 for the chocolate?” and TSG goes “huh.. cannot be lah.” I kindly requested her to have a look.

So she comes, peers down at the price tag (incidentally, there are four tags next to each other – horizontally – on the last shelf. the first one is the usual kind, the other 3 are hand written but with stencils.) she says, “oh, sorry, wrong price.” I go.. “er, ok..”

And we walk back to the counter – and she gives me the – “what do you want me to do” m.f. lookk. We just look blankly at each other, both sadly waiting for the other to talk.

I, being absolutely LATE for an appointment, terribly  hungry too, just feel like screaming at her, go “okay, thank you.” I walk out of 7/11, wishing that I had a gun which i could shoot her with, 2 shots – one at her forehead, the other in her chest.

The End.

Kudos to my ingenius brains that didn’t think of asknig her back for the money. I hate these situations but oh.. thats how useless I am. (: Bye bye money.

singa poor aah.

yes, i like being from a place where the standard of education is supposedly quite high. where the university i’m from is not too bad a ranking. where i’m not too afraid to come home on my own at night. somewhere that i can get almost anything in the world if i search hard enough. i can get turkish rugs, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, salmon, kiwi, see siberian tigers, penguins, learn english, get conditioned to be anti-govt in NUS, be not too worried abt going to the NTUC and getting shot by a mad man with a pistol, buy British India clothes, buy Hang Ten clothes, and learn about really random stuff like !kung. :) the list is never ending, of course. this is just a mere minute fraction of everything else.

but i wish, somewhere in the back of my mind, that we were still part of Malaysia.

to be discriminated because we’re not boomi putra. to learn malay, english, and tamil by default. to live in kampungs, in the middle of nowhere. be given a higher chance of getting a scooter than currently. to say hello to my chickens Nee Nee and Nu Nu and take their eggs for breakfast. To eat good chendol, and wait for the time to slowly pass by.

To wait for the time to slowly pass by. Just sit around, waiting for time to pass by.

To have the time to pick up a book, enjoy it, and realise there is still time to do other things.

To understand that to travel short distances means to go to somewhere in like 2 hours.

Singapore, the place where you die, without knowing why you have lived. Where you work, to die, the slave of the system. Where the most important thing is to be successful, but at the cost of…….. ?

Open Letter to The Prime Minister And His Cabinet

A letter has been sent to the Straits Times Forum page, addressed to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, drafted by Dana Lam and Braema Mathi, to ask that the government preserve JBJ’s public spiritedness and love of the law and is requesting for two items (please see reproduced letter below).

While the first letter by has been sent to the press already, there is an intention to continue collecting signatures and build up momentum. It’s likely that there are many more people who want to show their support but may not have known about this initiative.

Therefore, for those of you who are interested, you can either choose to submit this letter individually or as a collective group together with some people you know, with your name(s), I/C number(s) for Singaporeans and signature(s). You may base on the template letter below and address it to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet via:

E-mail address: lee_hsien_loong@pmo.gov.sg

Mail: Orchard Road Istana Singapore 238823

Fax: 63328983(PM) 67324627(SM) 67345244(MM) 68356621(General Office)

Thank you for your time and to Stephanie Chok for informing the Facebook Admins.

NOTE: Please cross out your I/C number(s) if you wish to publicly display your letter in a website, blog or online forum, but the letters privately sent to the PM, Cabinet or the press should maintain the I/C number(s).

——————–

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CABINET

30 September 2008

Dear Prime Minister & Cabinet Members

By all accounts, we have lost a figure of uncommon strength and conviction in Mr JB Jeyaretnam.

No matter which side of the political fence we stand, it is undeniable that Mr JBJ, as he will be fondly remembered, has fought long and hard for what he believed was good for Singapore and, good for Singaporeans.

Mr JBJ did all he could with all he could. In staying the course, he has undoubtedly performed a public duty as a citizen of Singapore and, amply demonstrated the public spirit, the commitment to country and, the “nation before self” maxim that the government has sought to propagate.

As Singaporeans we are proud that such a man as Mr JBJ walked among us. We appreciate the sacrifices Mr JBJ has made for his beliefs in serving the people of Singapore . We are equally proud that the government, in spite of its political differences, has acknowledged the same resilience and service to nation in Mr JBJ.

Mr JBJ is an icon – an individual who stood up to serve the country and who stood tall for his beliefs and principles. As citizens of Singapore , we hope that Mr JBJ’s public spiritedness and love of the law can be preserved in the following manner:

1) a professorial chair in the name of Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam be created in the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore and,

2) A scholarship fund in the name of Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam for graduate studies in political science and/or constitutional law and/or civil society studies.

We also humbly ask the government to further demonstrate its commitment to public spiritedness and active citizenry by taking the lead to provide the seed fund for the above honours for others to follow.

We look forward to your encouragement as we mourn the loss of one of Singapore’s better sons.

Yours in good faith,
<full name and IC>

Why Handphones Should Have Cameras – by Maygalai T

Article 1

Unidentified Nike Bag found near Kovan MRT Station.
Bomb? Smelly shoes and socks?
BOTH CAN KILL.

PLEASE CALL 999 if you see any suspicious articles lying unattended in MRTS, outside MRT stations, and near the escalators of MRT Stations. It is hard to resist the urge to unzip this suspicious article and REVEAL ITS HIDEOUS, secretive, and highly flammable insides.

Will the Yishun Mrt Bomb incident be repeated, yet again?

Article 2

National University of Singapore (NUS) Students have been spotted with coloured hair all the time. Now its just the unconventional colours. Try arguing with NUS kids – they’ll write you 4000 word essays on how the word ‘unconventional’ should be defined and that defining purple hair as unconventional is purely a label, and that judgement of an individual should not be based on hair colour.

The Purple Song :

Purple is tinkywinky.
Purple is barney.
Purple is the colour of the masses.
We all Love Purple.

Communism is a wonderful thing, where everyone marches, sings songs, and behaves in a highly patriotic way. Purple, all the way, go go go!

Article 3

The model on the left is about $164, the one on the right about $80.
Photo taking is not allowed in shops, and doing so may result in you getting thrown out of the shop. However, I have taken great risk in taking this photos so that readers know what to buy me if they have nothing to do with their money – the two red figurines in the photo.

THE END